Coordinates

36°59′55″N66°41′13″N

{{infobox england county | name

Cheshire | image | motto | map | status Ceremonial county | origin Historic | region North West England | arearank Ranked 25th | area_km2 2343 | adminarearank | adminarea_km2 | adminhq Chester | iso GB-CHS | ons 13 | nuts3 UKD22 | poprank Ranked | popestdate | pop | density_km2 | ethnicity 98.3% White, 1.7% Other. | council no county council | mps *Graham Evans (C) Helen Jones (L) Andrew Miller (L) Stephen O'Brien (C) George Osborne (C) Stephen Mosley (C) David Mowat (C) Edward Timpson (C) Derek Twigg (L) Fiona Bruce (C) David Rutley (C) | subdivmap | subdivs #Cheshire West and Chester (Unitary) #Cheshire East (Unitary) #Warrington (Unitary) #Halton (Unitary) }}

Cheshire ( or ; also known, archaically, as the County of Chester) is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow. The county is bordered by Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south, and Flintshire and Wrexham in Wales to the west.

Cheshire's area is and its population is just over a million. Apart from the large towns along the River Mersey and the historic city of Chester, it is mostly rural, with a number of small towns and villages that support an agricultural industry. It is historically famous as a former principality and for the production of Cheshire cheese, salt, bulk chemicals, and woven silk.

History

Toponymy

Cheshire's name was originally derived from an early name for Chester, and was first recorded as Legeceasterscir in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, meaning the shire of the city of legions. Although the name first appears in 980, it is thought that the county was created by Edward the Elder around 920. In the Domesday Book, Chester was recorded as having the name Cestrescir (Chestershire), derived from the name for Chester at the time. A series of changes that occurred as English itself changed, together with some simplifications and elision, resulted in the name Cheshire, as it occurs today.

Because of the historically close links with the land bordering Cheshire to the west, which became Wales, there is a history of interaction between Cheshire and Wales. The Domesday Book records Cheshire as having two complete Hundreds (Atiscross and Exestan) that later became entirely part of Wales. Additionally, another large portion of the Duddestan Hundred later became known as Maelor Saesneg when it was transferred to Wales. For this and other reasons, the Welsh name for Cheshire (Swydd Gaerlleon) is sometimes used within Wales and by Welsh speakers.

Administrative history

After the Norman conquest of 1066 by William I, dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion. In Cheshire in 1069 local resistance was finally overcome, and draconian measures were taken to impress the native Saxons with the futility of future resistance. Earl Edwin of Mercia along with other major landowners were made examples of, their properties confiscated and redistributed amongst Norman barons. King William created one of his barons, Hugh d'Avranches (nicknamed Hugh Lupus, or 'wolf') as Earl of Chester, ruling virtually autonomously in William's name and with his full authority, and Cheshire was thereby declared a County Palatine.

Cheshire in the Domesday Book (1086) was recorded as a larger county than it is today. It included two hundreds, Atiscross and Exestan, that later became part of Wales. At the time of the Domesday Book, it also included as part of Duddestan Hundred the area of land later known as Maelor Saesneg (which used to be a detached part of Flintshire) in Wales. The area between the Mersey and Ribble (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersam") formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Although this has been interpreted to mean that at that time south Lancashire was part of Cheshire, more exhaustive research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the River Mersey. With minor variations in spelling across sources, the complete list of hundreds of Cheshire at this time are: Atiscross, Bochelau, Chester, Dudestan, Exestan, Hamestan, Middlewich, Riseton, Roelau, Tunendune, Warmundestrou and Wilaveston.

In 1182 the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire, thus resolving any uncertainty about the county in which the land "Inter Ripam et Mersam" was. Over the years, the ten hundreds consolidated and changed names to leave just seven—Broxton, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich and Wirral.

In 1397 the county had lands in the march of Wales added to its territory, and was promoted to the rank of principality. This was because of the support the men of the county had given to King Richard II, in particular by his standing armed force of about 500 men called the "Cheshire Guard". As a result the King's title was changed to "King of England and France, Lord of Ireland, and Prince of Chester". No other English county has been honoured in this way, although it lost the distinction on Richard's fall in 1399.

Through the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, some areas in the north-west became part of the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Stockport (previously a county borough), Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester. Much of the Wirral Peninsula in the north-west, including the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, joined Merseyside. At the same time the Tintwistle Rural District was transferred to Derbyshire. The area of Lancashire south of the Merseyside/Greater Manchester area, including Widnes and the county borough of Warrington, was added to the new non-metropolitan county of Cheshire.

Halton and Warrington became unitary authorities independent of Cheshire County Council on 1 April 1998, but remain part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes and also for fire and policing.

A referendum for a further local government reform connected with an elected regional assembly was planned for 2004, but was abandoned – see Northern England referendum, 2004.

As part of the local government restructuring in April 2009, Cheshire County Council and the Cheshire districts were abolished and replaced by two new unitary authorities, Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester. The existing unitary authorities of Halton and Warrington were not affected by the change.

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the cuckooflower as the county flower.

Buildings and structures

Prehistoric burial grounds have been discovered at The Bridestones, near Congleton (Neolithic) and Robin Hood's Tump, near Alpraham (Bronze Age). The remains of Iron Age hill forts are found on sandstone ridges at several locations in Cheshire. Examples include Maiden Castle on Bickerton Hill, Helsby Hillfort and Woodhouse Hillfort at Frodsham. The Roman fortress and walls of Chester, perhaps the earliest building works in Cheshire remaining above ground, are constructed from purple-grey sandstone.

The distinctive local red sandstone has been used for many monumental and ecclesiastical buildings throughout the county: for example, the medieval Beeston Castle, Chester Cathedral and numerous parish churches. Occasional residential and industrial buildings, such as Helsby Station, Helsby (1849), are also in this sandstone.

Many surviving buildings from the 15th to 17th centuries are timbered, particularly in the southern part of the county. Notable examples include the moated manor house Little Moreton Hall, dating from around 1450, and many commercial and residential buildings in Chester, Nantwich and surrounding villages.

Early brick buildings include Peover Hall near Macclesfield (1585), Tattenhall Hall (pre-1622), and Pied Bull Hotel in Chester (17th century). From the 18th century, orange, red or brown brick became the predominant building material used in Cheshire, although earlier buildings are often faced or dressed with stone. Examples from the Victorian period onwards often employ distinctive brick detailing, such as brick patterning and ornate chimney stacks and gables. Notable examples include Arley Hall near Northwich, Willington Hall near Chester (both by Nantwich architect George Latham) and Overleigh Lodge, Chester. From the Victorian era, brick buildings often incorporate timberwork in a mock Tudor style, and this hybrid style has been used in some modern residential developments in the county. Industrial buildings, such as the Macclesfield silk mills (for example, Waters Green New Mill), are also usually in brick.

Physical geography

Cheshire covers a boulder clay plain separating the hills of North Wales and the Peak District of Derbyshire (the area is also known as the Cheshire Gap). This was formed following the retreat of ice age glaciers which left the area dotted with kettle holes, locally referred to as meres. The bedrock of this region is almost entirely Triassic sandstone, outcrops of which have long been quarried, notably at Runcorn, providing the distinctive red stone for Liverpool Cathedral and Chester Cathedral.

The eastern half of the county is Upper Triassic Mercia Mudstone laid down with large salt deposits which were mined for hundreds of years around Northwich. Separating this area from Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone to the west is a prominent sandstone ridge known as the Mid Cheshire Ridge. A footpath, the Sandstone Trail, follows this ridge from Frodsham to Whitchurch passing Delamere Forest, Beeston Castle and earlier Iron Age forts.

Demography

Population

Based on the Census of 2001, the overall population of Cheshire is 673,781, of which 51.3% of the population were male and 48.7% were female. Of those aged between 0–14 years, 51.5% were male and 48.4% were female; and of those aged over 75 years, 62.9% were female and 37.1% were male.

The population density of Cheshire is 32 people per km², lower than the North West average of 42 people/km² and the England and Wales average of 38 people/km². Ellesmere Port and Neston has a greater urban density than the rest of the county with 92 people/km².

The population for 2021 is forecast to be 708,000.

Ethnicity

Ethnic white groups accounted for 98% (662,794) of the population with 10,994 (2%) in ethnic groups other than white.

Of the 2% in non-white ethnic groups:

3,717 (34%) belonged to mixed ethnic groups

3,336 (30%) were Asian or Asian British

1,076 (10%) were Black or Black British

1,826 (17%) were of Chinese ethnic groups

1,039 (9%) were of other ethnic groups.

Population change

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! colspan="8" style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Population totals for Cheshire |- ! style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Year ! style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Population ! style="background:#fff; color:#fff;"| ! style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Year ! style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Population ! style="background:#fff; color:#fff;"| ! style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Year ! style="background:#9cc; color:navy;"|Population |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1801 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 124,570 | style="background:#fff; color:#fff;" rowspan="7"| ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1871 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 277,123 | style="background:#fff; color:#fff;" rowspan="7"| ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1941 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 431,335 |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1811 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 141,672 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1881 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 303,315 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1951 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 471,438 |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1821 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 167,730 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1891 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 324,494 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1961 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 533,642 |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1831 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 191,965 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1901 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 343,557 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1971 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 605,918 |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1841 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 206,063 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1911 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 364,179 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1981 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 632,630 |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1851 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 224,739 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1921 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 379,157 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1991 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 656,050 |- ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1861 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 250,931 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 1931 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 395,717 ! style="background:#fff; color:navy;"| 2001 | style="background:#fff; color:#black;"| 673,777 |- | colspan="8" style="background:#fff; font-size:90%;"|Pre-1974 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise CheshireSource: Great Britain Historical GIS. |}

Politics and administration

Current

File:Cheshire unitary labell.png|300px|thumb|The ceremonial county showing the four unitary authorities. Click on the map for more information poly 132 343 74 237 19 152 25 129 215 134 231 120 255 121 298 172 293 195 263 221 221 222 179 257 152 293 175 350 Cheshire West and Chester poly 168 293 241 241 285 239 325 225 382 264 383 272 316 308 312 348 225 368 Cheshire East poly 333 175 269 130 267 103 300 82 357 102 480 90 491 189 410 239 Cheshire East poly 313 228 334 183 419 219 354 293 Cheshire East poly 131 105 166 58 182 73 182 94 201 99 207 91 218 105 210 129 183 127 161 121 131 107 Halton poly 188 75 192 30 266 9 296 73 267 82 251 107 234 112 Warrington desc none

Cheshire is a ceremonial county. This means that although there is no county-wide elected local authority, Cheshire has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff for ceremonial purposes under the Lieutenancies Act 1997.

Local government functions apart from the Police and Fire/Rescue services are carried out by four smaller unitary authorities: Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, and Warrington.

Policing and fire and rescue services are still provided across the County as a whole, but by unelected bodies. The Cheshire Police Authority and Cheshire Fire Authority consist of members of the four councils.

Transition from the previous (1974) arrangement

From 1 April 1974 the area under the control of the county council was divided into eight local government districts; Chester, Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Halton, Macclesfield, Vale Royal and Warrington. Halton (which includes the towns of Runcorn and Widnes) and Warrington became unitary authorities in 1998. The remaining districts and the county were abolished as part of local government restructuring on 1 April 2009. The Halton and Warrington boroughs were not affected by the 2009 restructuring.

On 25 July 2007, the Secretary of State Hazel Blears announced she was 'minded' to split Cheshire into two new unitary authorities, Cheshire West and Chester, and Cheshire East. She confirmed she had not changed her mind on 19 December 2007 and therefore the proposal to split two-tier Cheshire into two would proceed.

Cheshire County Council leader Paul Findlow, who attempted High Court legal action against the proposal, claimed that splitting Cheshire would only disrupt excellent services while increasing living costs for all. A widespread sentiment that this decision was taken by the European Union long ago has often been portrayed via angered letters from Cheshire residents to local papers. On 31 January 2008 The Standard, Cheshire & district newspaper, announced that the legal action had been dropped. Members against the proposal were advised that they may be unable to persuade the court that the decision of Hazel Blears was "manifestly absurd".

The Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority covers the area formerly occupied by the City of Chester and the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston and Vale Royal; Cheshire East now covers the area formerly occupied by the boroughs of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, and Macclesfield. The changes were implemented on 1 April 2009.

Congleton Borough Council pursued an appeal against the judicial review it lost in October 2007. The appeal was dismissed on 4 March 2008.

Borders

The ceremonial county borders Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Shropshire in England along with Flintshire and Wrexham in Wales, arranged by compass directions as shown in the table. below. Cheshire also forms part of the North West England region.

{| style="margin:auto;" |- ! Neighbouring Authorities to the Ceremonial County |}

Religion

In the 2001 Census, 81% of the population (542,413) identified themselves as Christian; 124,677 (19%) did not identify with any religion or did not answer the question; 5,665 (1%) identified themselves as belonging to other major world religions; and 1,033 belonged to other religions.

The boundary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester follows most closely the pre-1974 county boundary of Cheshire, so it includes all of Wirral, Stockport, and the Cheshire panhandle that included Tintwistle Rural District council area. In terms of Roman Catholic church administration, most of Cheshire falls into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury.

Economy and industry

Cheshire has a diverse economy with significant sectors including agriculture, automotive, bio-technology, chemical, financial services, food and drink, ICT, and tourism. The county is famous for the production of Cheshire cheese, salt and silk.

A mainly rural county, Cheshire has a high concentration of villages. Agriculture is generally based on the dairy trade, and cattle are the predominant livestock. Land use given to agriculture has fluctuated somewhat, and in 2005 totalled 1558 km² over 4,609 holdings. Based on holdings by EC farm type in 2005, 8.51 km² was allocated to dairy farming, with another 11.78 km² allocated to cattle and sheep.

The chemical industry in Cheshire was founded in Roman times, with the mining of salt in Middlewich and Northwich. Salt is still mined in the area by British Salt. The salt mining has led to a continued chemical industry around Northwich, with Brunner Mond based in the town. Other chemical companies, including Ineos (formerly ICI), have plants at Runcorn. The Shell Stanlow Refinery is at Ellesmere Port. The oil refinery has operated since 1924 and has a capacity of 12 million tonnes per year.

Crewe was once the centre of the British railway industry, and remains a major railway junction. The Crewe railway works, built in 1840, employed 20,000 people at its peak, although the workforce is now less than 1,000. Crewe is also the home of Bentley cars. Also within Cheshire are manufacturing plants for Jaguar and Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port. The county also has an aircraft industry, with the BAE Systems facility at Woodford Aerodrome, part of BAE System's Military Air Solutions division. The facility designed and constructed Avro Lancaster and Avro Vulcan bombers and the Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod. On the Cheshire border with Flintshire is the Broughton aircraft factory, more recently associated with Airbus.

Tourism in Cheshire from within the UK and overseas continues to perform strongly. Over 8 million nights of accommodation (both UK and overseas) and over 2.8 million visits to Cheshire were recorded during 2003.

At the start of 2003, there were 22,020 VAT-registered enterprises in Cheshire, an increase of 7% since 1998, many in the business services (31.9%) and wholesale/retail (21.7%) sectors. Between 2002 and 2003 the number of businesses grew in four sectors: public administration and other services (6.0%), hotels and restaurants (5.1%), construction (1.7%), and business services (1.0%). The county saw the largest proportional reduction between 2001 and 2002 in employment in the energy and Water sector and there was also a significant reduction in the manufacturing sector. The largest growth during this period was in the other services and distribution, hotels and retail sectors.

Cheshire is considered to be an affluent county. Due to Cheshire's proximity to the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, counter urbanisation is common. Cheshire West has a fairly large proportion of residents who work in Liverpool, while Cheshire East falls within Manchester's sphere of influence.

Education

''See also: List of schools in Cheshire East; List of schools in Cheshire West and Chester; List of schools in Halton; List of schools in Warrington

All four local education authorities in Cheshire operate only comprehensive state school systems. When Altrincham and Sale were moved from Cheshire to Trafford in 1974, they took some former Cheshire selective schools. Today, there are two universities based in the county, the University of Chester and the Crewe campus of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Culture, media and sport

Cheshire has two league football teams, namely Crewe Alexandra and Macclesfield Town who both play in League Two. Chester City was also a League Two team until they were relegated to the Conference National in April 2009 and later dissolved. A new club, Chester F.C. was formed in 2010 and currently plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

Cheshire also is represented in the highest level basketball league in the UK, the BBL, by the Cheshire Jets, formerly Chester Jets.

Warrington Wolves are the premier Rugby League team in Cheshire and play in the Super League. Widnes Vikings are currently in National League One. There are also numerous junior clubs in the county, including Chester Gladiators.

Cheshire County Cricket Club is one of the minor county cricket clubs.

The county has also been home to many notable sportsmen and athletes, including footballers Dean Ashton, Djibril Cissé, Peter Crouch, Seth Johnson, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. Other local athletes have included cricketer Ian Botham, marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, Great Britain Olympic oarsman Matthew Langridge, Shirley Strong, and mountaineer George Mallory, who died in 1924 on Mount Everest.

Each May, Europe's largest motorcycle event, the Thundersprint, is held in Northwich.

The county has produced several notable musicians, including popular artists John Mayall (John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers), Ian Astbury (The Cult), Tim Burgess (Charlatans) and Ian Curtis (Joy Division). Concert pianist Stephen Hough, singer Thea Gilmore and her producer husband Nigel Stonier also reside in Cheshire. The county has also been home to several writers, including Hall Caine (1853–1931), popular romantic novelist and playwright; Alan Garner; Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, whose novel Cranford features her home town of Knutsford; and most famously Lewis Carroll, born and raised in Daresbury, hence the Cheshire cat. Artists from the county include ceramic artist Emma Bossons and sculptor and photographer Andy Goldsworthy. Actors from Cheshire include Daniel Craig, the 6th James Bond; Dame Wendy Hiller; and Lewis McGibbon, best known for his role in Millions.

Local radio stations in the county include Dee 106.3, Heart and Gold for Chester and West Cheshire, Silk FM for the east of the county, Signal 1 for the south, Wire FM for Warrington, Wish FM, which covers Widnes, and community station Cheshire FM, which covers central Cheshire. The BBC covers the west with BBC Radio Merseyside, the north and east with BBC Radio Manchester and the south with BBC Radio Stoke. There were plans to launch BBC Radio Cheshire, but those were shelved in 2007 after a lower than expected BBC licence fee settlement.

Settlements and communications

Settlements

The county is home to some of the most affluent areas of Northern England, including Alderley Edge, Wilmslow, Prestbury, Tarporley and Knutsford, named in 2006 as the most expensive place to buy a house in the north of England. The former Cheshire town of Altrincham was in second place. The area is sometimes referred to as The Golden Triangle on account of the area in and around the above mentioned towns and villages.

The cities and towns in Cheshire are:

! Ceremonial county	! District	! Centre of administration	! Other Towns or Cities
	Cheshire East (unitary)	Sandbach	Alsager, Bollington, Crewe, Congleton, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Middlewich, Nantwich, Wilmslow
Cheshire West and Chester (unitary)	Chester
	Widnes	Runcorn
Warrington (unitary)	Warrington	Lymm

Some settlements which were historically part of the county now fall under the counties of Derbyshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester:

Derbyshire	Greater Manchester	[[Altrincham">Crowden, Derbyshire
Greater Manchester	Bramhall, Bredbury, [[Cheadle, Greater Manchester">Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Dukinfield, Gatley, Hazel Grove, Hyde, Marple, Romiley, Sale, Stalybridge, Stockport, Wythenshawe
Merseyside	Bebington, Birkenhead, Heswall, Hoylake, Wallasey, West Kirby

Transport

Rail and road

The main railway line through the county is the West Coast Main Line. Many trains call at Crewe (in the south of the county) and Warrington Bank Quay (in the north of the county) en route to London and Scotland, as well as Runcorn on the Liverpool branch of the WCML.

The major interchanges are:

Crewe (the biggest station in Cheshire) for trains to London Euston and Scotland (via the WCML), Wales, The Midlands (Birmingham, Stoke and Derby) as well as suburban services to Manchester, Chester and Liverpool.

Warrington stations (Central and Bank Quay) for suburban services to Manchester, Chester and Liverpool and regional express services to North Wales, London, Scotland, Yorkshire, the East Coast and the East Midlands

Chester for urban services (via Merseyrail) to Liverpool Central, suburban services to Manchester, Warrington and rural Cheshire and express services to Llandudno, Holyhead, Birmingham, the West Midlands, London and Cardiff

In the east of Cheshire, Macclesfield station is served by Virgin Trains and CrossCountry, on the Manchester-London line. Services from Manchester to the south coast frequently stop at Macclesfield.

Cheshire has of roads, including of the M6, M62, M53 and M56 motorways, with 23 interchanges and four service areas. The M6 motorway at the Thelwall Viaduct carries 140,000 vehicles every 24 hours.

Waterways

File:Cheshire Ring Schematic.png|thumb|right|250px|Schematic of the Cheshire Ring

circle 501 199 67 Manchester circle 281 256 118 Bridgewater Canal circle 487 30 98 Rochdale Canal circle 672 79 90 Ashton Canal circle 311 660 156 Trent and Mersey Canal circle 861 650 178 Macclesfield Canal circle 733 303 110 Peak Forest Canal circle 930 390 90 Marple circle 612 911 139 Stoke on Trent rect 718 158 955 188 Ashton-under-Lyne rect 197 373 420 415 Preston Brook

desc none

The Cheshire canal system includes several canals originally used to transport the county's industrial products (mostly chemicals). Nowadays they are mainly used for tourist traffic. The Cheshire Ring is formed from the Rochdale, Ashton, Peak Forest, Macclesfield, Trent and Mersey and Bridgewater canals.

The Manchester Ship Canal is a wide, stretch of water opened in 1894. It consists of the rivers Irwell and Mersey made navigable to Manchester for seagoing ships leaving the Mersey estuary. The canal passes through the north of the county via Runcorn and Warrington.

See also

Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire

High Sheriff of Cheshire

Notes and references

Notes

Bibliography

Crosby, A. (1996). A History of Cheshire. (The Darwen County History Series.) Chichester, UK: Phillimore & Co ISBN 0-85033-932-4.

Harris, B. E., and Thacker, A. T. (1987). The Victoria History of the County of Chester. (Volume 1: Physique, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Domesday). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-722761-9.

Morgan, P. (Ed.) (1978). Domesday Book. Volume 26: Cheshire. Chichester, Sussex: Phillmore and Company Limited. ISBN 0-85033-140-4.

Phillips, A. D. M., and Phillips, C. B. (Eds.) (2002). A New Historical Atlas of Cheshire. Chester, UK: Cheshire County Council and Cheshire Community Council Publications Trust. ISBN 0-904532-46-1.

Sylvester, D. (1980). A History of Cheshire, (The Darwen County History Series.) (Second Edition, original publication date, 1971). London and Chichester, UK: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-85033-384-9.

Further reading

Beck, J. (1969). Tudor Cheshire. (Volume 7 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Bu'Lock, J. D. (1972). Pre-Conquest Cheshire 383–1066. (Volume 3 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Dore, R.N. (1966). The Civil Wars in Cheshire. (Volume 8 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Driver, J. T. (1971). Cheshire in the Later Middle Ages 1399–1540. (Volume 6 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Harris, B. E. (1979). 'The Victoria History of the County of Chester. (Volume 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-722749-X.

Harris, B. E. (1980). 'The Victoria History of the County of Chester. (Volume 3). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-722754-6.

Hewitt, H. J. (1967). Cheshire Under the Three Edwards. (Volume 5 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Higham, N. J. (1993). The Origins of Cheshire. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-3160-5.

Hodson, J. H. (1978). Cheshire, 1660–1780: Restoration to Industrial Revolution. (Volume 9 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council. ISBN 0-903119-11-0.

Husain, B. M. C. (1973). Cheshire Under the Norman Earls 1066–1237. (Volume 4 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Morgan, V., and Morgan, P. (2004). Prehistoric Cheshire. Ashbourne, Derbyshire:Landmark Publishing Company. ISBN 1-84306-140-6.

Scard, G. (1981). Squire and Tenant: Rural Life in Cheshire 1760–1900. (Volume 10 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council. ISBN 0-903119-13-7.

Scholes, R. (2000). The Towns and Villages of Britain: Cheshire. Wilmslow, Cheshire: Sigma Press. ISBN 1-85058-637-3.

Sylvester. D., and Nulty, G. (1958). The Historical Atlas of Cheshire. (Third Edition) Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Thompson, F. H. (1965). Roman Cheshire. (Volume 2 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Tigwell, R. E. (1985). Cheshire in the Twentieth Century. (Volume 11 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Varley, W. J. (1964). Cheshire Before the Romans. (Volume 1 of Cheshire Community Council Series: A History of Cheshire). Series Editor: J. J. Bagley. Chester, UK: Cheshire Community Council.

Youngs, F. A. (1991). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. (Volume 1: Northern England). London: Royal Historical Society. ISBN 0-86193-127-0.

External links

Cheshire Lieutenancy

Office of National Statistics – 2001 Bicentenary – Cheshire

Cheshire Wildlife Trust

The Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire

rECOrd (Local Biological Records Centre for Cheshire)

Discovercheshire website - council maintained recreational routes and country parks

Cheshire Market Towns - council maintained guide to Cheshire's Market Towns

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Coordinates	36°59′55″N66°41′13″N
name	Cheshire Cat
series	Alice
first	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
creator	Lewis Carroll
species	Tabby British Shorthair Cat
gender	Not specified by author
occupation	Mischief maker
nationality	Wonderland }}

The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.

Origins

The phrase appears in print in John Wolcot's pseudonymous Peter Pindar's Pair of Lyric Epistles in 1792: "Lo, like a Cheshire cat our court will grin." Earlier than that, A classical dictionary of the vulgar tongue by Francis Grose (The Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged, London 1788) contains the following entry: "CHESHIRE CAT. He grins like a Cheshire cat; said of any one who shows his teeth and gums in laughing.".

Dairy Farming

A possible origin of the phrase "Grinning like a Cheshire Cat" is from the large number of dairy farms in Cheshire, hence the cats grin because of all the milk and cream that is available. This is the explanation most favoured by the people of Cheshire.

Cheese moulds

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says grinning like a Cheshire cat is "an old simile, popularised by Lewis Carroll". According to Brewer's dictionary, "The phrase has never been satisfactorily accounted for, but it has been said that cheese was formerly sold in Cheshire moulded like a cat that looked as though it was grinning". The cheese was cut from the tail end, so that the last part eaten was the head of the smiling cat.

Church carvings

There are many reports that Carroll found inspiration for the name and expression of the Cheshire Cat in the 16th century sandstone carving of a grinning cat, on the west face of St. Wilfrid's Church tower in Grappenhall, a village adjacent to his birthplace — Daresbury in Warrington, Cheshire.

Others have attributed it to a gargoyle found on a pillar in St. Nicolas Church, Cranleigh, where Carroll used to travel frequently when he lived in Guildford (though this is doubtful as he moved to Guildford some three years after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland had been published) and a carving in a church in the village of Croft-on-Tees, in the north east of England, where his father had been rector.

St. Christopher's church in Potthead Shrigley, Cheshire, is believed to have been visited by Carroll and has a stone sculpture most closely resembling the pictorial cat in the book.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice first encounters it at the Duchess's house in her kitchen, and then later outside on the branches of a tree, where it appears and disappears at will, engaging Alice in amusing but sometimes vexing conversation. The cat sometimes raises philosophical points that annoy or baffle Alice. It does, however, appear to cheer her up when it turns up suddenly at the Queen of Hearts' croquet field, and when sentenced to death baffles everyone by having made its head appear without its body, sparking a massive argument between the executioner and the King and Queen of Hearts about whether something that does not have a body can indeed be beheaded.

At one point, the cat disappears gradually until nothing is left but its grin, prompting Alice to remark that she has often seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat.

Popular culture

The Cheshire Cat is one of many iconic characters depicted in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that have become enmeshed in popular culture, appearing in various forms of media, from political cartoons to television. One of its distinguishing features is that from time to time it disappears, the last thing to be seen being its grin.

name	Cheshire Cat
first	Alice in Wonderland
creator	Lewis Carroll
portrayer	Sterling Holloway (Alice in Wonderland)Jim Cummings (2004–present)
species	Cat
gender	Male
nationality	}}

In the 1951 Disney animated film, Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat is depicted as an intelligent yet mischievous character that sometimes helps Alice and sometimes gets her into trouble, and thus, in some cases, is classified as a "Disney Villain". He is voiced by Sterling Holloway and later by Jim Cummings after Holloway's death (making him the third character that Cummings has taken from Holloway). The Disney version of the character can also be spotted during the final scene of the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The Cheshire Cat is heard singing the poem Jabberwocky before he materialises in front of Alice. Prior to the release of the Walt Disney animated adaption of the story, scholars observed few specific allusions to this character. Martin Gardner, author of The Annotated Alice, wondered if T. S. Eliot had the Cheshire Cat in mind when writing Morning at the Window but notes no other significant allusions in the pre-war period.

The Cheshire Cheese Campaign won a Gold award at the 2009 Cheshire County Show with their entry into the cheeseboard category. The board, called 'The Cheshire Cat' was constructed using White, Coloured & Blue Cheshire cheese, all made at the Joseph Heler dairy in Cheshire.

Images of and references to the Cheshire Cat cropped up more frequently in the 1960s and 1970s, along with more frequent references to Carroll's works in general. The Cheshire Cat appeared on LSD blotters as well as in song lyrics and popular fiction. For example, in the Star Trek episode Who Mourns for Adonais?, Kirk and Chekov argue over the origin of the "vanishing cat" and Chekov amusingly alleges that it came from Minsk. while in the second-season finale of Prison Break, Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell describes his smile as the Cheshire Cat when he meets Brad Bellick in the jail cell in Panama.

An exhibit called The Cheshire Cat at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, created by Bob Miller in 1978, features a mirrored eyepiece that allows visitors to look at a picture of the Cheshire Cat's face with one eye, while the other eye sees a reflection of a white screen to the side. When the visitor waves a hand in across the white screen, the cat image starts to disappear. If the visitor focuses on the cat's smile while doing this, the smile will remain while the cat disappears. The general phenomenon of a moving stimulus presented to one eye causing a static image to disappear from the other eye is called the Cheshire Cat effect, named after this exhibit. The effect is part of a broader visual phenomenon called binocular rivalry.

Punk rock band Blink-182's debut studio album is called Cheshire Cat.

In The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat is depicted as an eccentric fantastical creature who speaks solely in rap.

The 1975 Ted Nugent song Free For All from the album of the same name includes the line: "I see you there with your Cheshire grin/I've got my eyes on you".

In DC Comics, the New Goddess Malice Vundabar, niece of the villain Virman Vundabar, resembles Alice and controls a carnivorous creature called Chessure that looks like nothing more than a grinning face. Cheshire is also the codename of the human assassin Jade Nguyen who has a daughter with the heroic archer Roy "Speedy" Harper. Though the comic version bears no similarity to the Cheshire Cat, the Cheshire from the Teen Titans and Young Justice animated series wears a mask of a grinning cat.

In the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, the Cheshire Cat is an overseer in the Great Library, a library within the "book-world" which contains copies of every book ever written. However, due to "boundary changes", the Cat is renamed the "Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat". Thursday has a conversation with the Cat identical to that between the Cat and Alice, which she later notices. The Cheshire Cat of this series, however, is not only sane but helpful to some extent as an active member of Jurisfiction, the metafictional justice agency for characters within books.

In the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy has shown the ability to perform the Cheshire Cat's signature disappearing act, but has gotten stuck several times. Snoopy did the Cheshire Cat grin in April 1967.

In the PC game Jazz Jackrabbit 2, the cat is featured in psychedelic levels that resemble characters from Alice in Wonderland. However, he's merely a platform than a guide.

In the PlayStation 2 version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, there are two exclusive levels. In the second level entitled "Bunker", Sam is kidnapped and must escape through gas-filled chambers. In one instance he's asked how he's doing; Sam replies, "Either the stuff is still in my system or I'm being followed by the Cheshire Cat."

In Kingdom Hearts, the Cheshire Cat offers Sora, Donald and Goofy clues to prove that the Heartless attempted to steal the Queen of Hearts' heart and not Alice, along with the blizzard spell (in the manga, the Cheshire Cat grants Sora the ability to perform all types of magic, not just blizzard); however, he also summons the Trickmaster Heartless to fight the heroes while the Heartless kidnap Alice, making it difficult to determine whether this Cheshire Cat is good or evil. His role in Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is very similar, both helping Roxas and summoning Heartless indirectly, implying that the Cheshire Cat may have some control over the Heartless. The manga reveals that Maleficent offered him a place in her group of villains, but he turned her down.

In the video games American McGee's Alice (2000); and the sequel Alice: Madness Returns (2011), the Cheshire Cat is portrayed as an enigmatic, yet wise guide for Alice in the corrupted Wonderland. In keeping with the twisted tone of the game, the Cheshire Cat is mangy and emaciated in appearance. His voice was provided by Roger L. Jackson, who also voiced the Mad Hatter and The Jabberwock in the game.

In the 1999 television adaptation of the books, the Cheshire Cat is portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg, the first time the character is portrayed as a female. She fully acts as an ally and friend to Alice, the latter defending the cat when she is threatened with execution.

In Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars, the Cat is Redd's top assassin. The Cat has butcher knife claws and can change from his true form to the form of a small black kitten. He initially has nine lives, but loses all but one by the end of the book.

In the SyFy TV miniseries Alice, the Cheshire Cat appears in a dream sequence as Alice’s childhood cat, Dinah. It leads Alice to a strange room where she experiences flashbacks to her childhood. Right before Alice enters the room, she looks back and sees the Cheshire Cat flash its trademark smile. However, unlike in the original book, it doesn’t disappear.

In the Laserdisc game Dragon's Lair II, The Cheshire Cat appears only as a head, reciting the Jabberwocky poem while trying to make a meal out of the hero "Dirk the Daring".

In the online series Harper's Globe, a tie-in with the CBS television murder mystery series Harper's Island, Robin Matthews works for Harper's Globe, the island's newspaper. As she investigates the past, it's her job to attract local involvement on the Globe's website. One user, the "Cheshire Cat," seemingly leads Robin down a path to gather more information about what lies beneath the surface of the island's people as she tries to find her missing love interest, Brent Cyr.

In the anime Ouran High School Host Club, the characters Hikaru Hitachiin and Kaoru Hitachiin both play the part of the Cheshire Cat in the episode "Haruhi in Wonderland".

In the anime and manga Pandora Hearts, one of the main characters, Alice, had a pet cat that died, but returns 100 years later as a chain in a realm created by one of Alice's memories. He came to call himself the Cheshire Cat, and had a more human-like appearance, or a catboy look. He is also a key character with vital information in the series.

In the manga Are You Alice?, the Cheshire Cat is depicted as a man with cat ears and long brown hair(according to official colouring), and is often seen smiling. He is the loyal pet cat of The Dutchess, who is a little girl that took in the cat when it was stray. The cat's main role in the manga unfolds along with the story, but he's seen closely following the boy whom everyone calls 'Alice', throughout the deadly game taking place in 'Wonderland'. He is not seen by The Mad Hatter(though he's still heard), and often just disappears without explanation. However, it seems he was the person who gave Alice his name.

The Cheshire Cat lends its name to two public house in the county of Cheshire; one near Stockport and another on the A41 just south of Chester.

name	Cheshire
first	Alice in Wonderland
creator	Lewis Carroll
portrayer	Stephen Fry
nickname	Chess
species	Cat
gender	Male
nationality	}}

The Cheshire Cat appears in Walt Disney's 2010 Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton. In the movie, Chessur (as he is referred to by other Wonderland characters) first appears to Alice as she is walking alone in the forest. He helps her by binding the wound she suffered earlier by the Bandersnatch and taking her to the Hatter and the March Hare. He is later blamed by the Hatter for betraying him during the Red Queen's attack where the White Queen's throne was usurped. However, as the plot moves along, he redeems himself by changing his form to resemble the Hatter during his execution and then evaporates as the axe is about to make contact, thus fooling everyone as the Hatter's hat floats up to the Queen's seat and Cheshire appears and winks. In the video game adaptation of the movie, Cheshire is a playable character who can not only turn himself invisible, but other objects around him as well. The character was voiced by Stephen Fry.

The Cheshire Cat is included in the manga Alice in the Country of Hearts. He is known as Boris and works for a man called 'Mary Gowland', the boss of the Amusement Park territory. Boris is a human, though he has functional cat ears and a cat tail. He has a series of piercings on his ears, his tail, and one on his belly button. In this depiction, he is a happy-go-lucky person who has an obsession with guns (Weapons are a big part of the Alice in the Country of Hearts books). He is known only as Boris, and is never mentioned as the Cheshire Cat, though it is obvious that is his role in the story.

In James A. Owen's book, The Shadow Dragons, the character Grimalkin is shown as the inspiration for the Cheshire Cat, and is even once referred to as such by H.G. Wells.

In the Futurama episode The Sting in one scene Fry disappears and reappears like the Cheshire cat. Though it may have been a hallucination.

The cat is referenced in Matthew Reilly's Hover Car Racer on page 198.

name	Cheshire cat
first	Pandora Hearts Episode 12
creator	Jon Mochizuki
portrayer	Kappei Yamaguchi
nickname	Cheshire
species	Chain
gender	Male
occupation	Servant
relatives	Will of the Abyss, Alice
nationality	}}

Notes

References

External links

Cheshire Cat character description

An article on the Grappenhall carving

BBC article about the Croft carving

Compilation of the possible origins of the Cheshire Cat

Category:Lewis Carroll characters Category:Fictional cats Category:Fictional characters who can turn invisible Category:Cheshire Category:Disney's Alice in Wonderland characters Category:Kingdom Hearts characters Category:Fictional characters who can teleport Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1865

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